Most common lameness cause?

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wizzlewoo

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I have just been reading an article on lameness issues and related injuries to certain disciplines, there are so many different causes of injuries. So much of the time people say that their horse is lame but they don't know the cause but i just wondered what people thought might be the most common injury?:confused:
 
Man made ones!:)

I would say arthritis and laminitis are pretty common. but lots of lameness can be caused by poor management, such as ill fitting saddles, not being fit enough, unbalanced rider, poor shoeing regime, etc
No one single thing though
 
Tendon and ligament injuries, navicular syndrome, unexplained "not quite right but I can't put my finger on it" unsoundnesses - all very often the result of poor hoof balance IMHO.
 
I'd have also said along the lines of arthritis and ligament/tendon injuries. Would you say these are unpreventable in most cases or as some have said caused by bad management of hooves or bad training causing the limb to not be strengthened correctly before jumping, advanced dressage moves or just bombing around the field?
 
I do believe many of these kind of injuries are preventable. So many horses are not got properly fit for their intended purpose (to my old fashioned view lunging is not a suitable method for getting a horse fit - whatever happened to weeks of slow, steady roadwork?!?) and spend so much of their time working in circles on artificial surfaces it's no wonder that joints and all the bits of elastic can't cope! Add that to the all too often seen long-toe / low weak heeled foot balance which many accept as "normal" because it is so common, that many horses are building up to problems long before they actually become walking wounded. :( :( :( :(

Can you tell these issues are something of a bugbear with me? ;)

My farrier wrote an interesting article on just this subject recently:

http://www.equinefootprotection.co.uk/shoeing-with-regard-to-equine-welfare-article.html
 
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arthritis and tendon injuries can be caused by poor conformation but they can also be caused by excess wear and tear from a number of reasons- working on unsuitable ground, compensation for a bad rider or **** saddle, stabling (the musculoskeletal system is not designed to be confined), poor training, using studs, etc.
Not unpreventable, in fact quite the opposite, especially with tendon injuries. there will always be one horse that gets them however careful you are though
 
sally2008 said:
I do believe many of these kind of injuries are preventable. So many horses are not got properly fit for their intended purpose (to my old fashioned view lunging is not a suitable method for getting a horse fit - whatever happened to weeks of slow, steady roadwork?!?) and spend so much of their time working in circles on artificial surfaces it's no wonder that joints and all the bits of elastic can't cope! Add that to the all too often seen long-toe / low weak heeled foot balance which many accept as "normal" because it is so common, that many horses are building up to problems long before they actually become walking wounded. :( :( :( :(

Can you tell these issues are something of a bugbear with me? ;)
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i quite agree. Horses get dragged out of the stable and get sat on a week before a hunter trial and see the farrier every 8+ weeks- very common!
 
Don't start me teddyt! :( ;) There used to be one at my yard which was unused for months, then got lunged twice, thrashed round the block twice then taken out to do the pairs and the open classes or taken hunting.
 
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A pony i know is up for sale and it hasnt been ridden for months. Its being jumped and cantered after a week! the same pony gets its feet trimmed 3 times a year if its lucky.
Another horse up the road... not ridden all week and hunted ALL DAY on a saturday. Another horse down the road... ex racehorse, hasnt been ridden for 9 months then does pony camp after just 3 weeks in new home- 2 lessons a day in an arena when its not been in an arena more than twice in its life!

Id better shut up or i'll be here until midnight:rolleyes:
 
This is my point exactly but i wanted to see others view pints first before raising my head, every yard has a horse or pony or horses that do not receive correct training and fittening and then they wonder why the horses is always having to have a week hear and there off whilst it becomes sound! It does make you wonder how some people are aloud horses un supervised. In answer to my first question then i think the most common lameness is the un diagnosed type that is usually stress or strain to a joint.:mad:
 
I think most vets would say that the commonest site for lameness is in the foot. Which covers anything from a bruised sole or abscess to chronic navicular.

However, bad training is definitely an issue in soft tissue injuries, and bad surfaces don't help either. Arthritic conditions are obviously more common now that horses are living and working for longer, and early onset joint disorders like OCD are more easy to spot since the common use of arthroscopic surgery. Still, though, I'd say most lamenesses originate in the feet.
 
Hmmm id say the most common would be navicular or tendon damage.
I hate the way people dont do anything with there horses then take them round a meter course at the weekend expecting them to jump clear and when they dont go in a strop about it!! Does my head in! And when there horse goes lame then they moan, yet they never even ride the damn horse in the first place!!!
 
Mine would be low grade laminitis - many horses suffer from tender feet and all the riders notice may be a slight reluctance to go forward or they are unwilling to work - sometimes it can be incredibly subtle.

Then there is navicular syndrome - basically weakness or damage or inhibited maturity in the back of the foot - often caused by shoes. You can see these horses in the developmental stages of problems caused by a weak caudal hoof even just by watching them standing. How often do they stand with their weight over their toes and not weighting the back of the foot?
 
brucea said:
You can see these horses in the developmental stages of problems caused by a weak caudal hoof even just by watching them standing. How often do they stand with their weight over their toes and not weighting the back of the foot?
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Brucea - I am very interested in this and the barefoot concept and am becoming a real convert. I would be interested to know what you think about my barefoot mare who often stands with her weight slightly on her heels - not particularly noticeably but enough for me to notice - she doesnt suffer from lami as she is on very little grass, no heat, no reluctance to go forward etc. and her feet are in excellent condition. I was concerned about it but the vet couldnt see any reason why - just that she obviously felt more comfortable that way. She leant back worse when shod but now she is barefoot, with the barefoot diet, she does this much less now. In contrast my old gelding who had terrible collapsed heels and navicular syndrome and other lameness issues stood when resting on a slight downhill slope (which indicates to me that he could feel pain in his heels etc as was weight bearing on his toes rather than the heels). What are your thoughts on this?
 
I would be interested to know what you think about my barefoot mare who often stands with her weight slightly on her heels - not particularly noticeably but enough for me to notice - she doesnt suffer from lami as she is on very little grass, no heat, no reluctance to go forward etc. and her feet are in excellent condition.
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The best place to find out abotu Navicular and caudal hoof problems is through the UKNHCPand in particular the amazinfg work that Nioc Barker has ben doing at Rockley Farm - if you look up her website you will be able to read all about it.

it does challenge a lot of conventional thinking - and many of the horses on Projct Dexter have been through the conventional treatments with no success - so it's definitely worth a close look.

When anyone says a horse "doesn't suffer from lami" I wonder now becuase I now understand laminitis is a spectrum from low grade on the left to acute and chronic on the right. Often the signs can be very subtle - a sligt reluctance to move, stiffness, choosing the verges, temperament changes, and as you noticed a change in stance.

We have a little chap who is chonic laminitic. It took a long time for me to notice his early warning signs because he has had it all his life and is very stioc about it all. He is sound, and he is a fantastic driven pony - but these are "his warning signs" -
- grumpy, stays away from the other horses
- doesn't want groomed or fussed over
- is itchy
- is a bit shut down and withdrawn
- sways slightly
- stands with his weight more on his heels :-)
- is slightly iritable

Often the signs show more in the temperament and behaviour than in the feet.

Now this chap has been quite bad at times - and has had little heat or pulses to show for it.

Thankfully we have him in a grass free environment, he has a great diet and we manage it very well now. But seeing the early signs are key to heading off an attack.

Then again she could just be standing wtih her weight on her heels because she just does that and is quite comfortable!
 
thanks for that - its all interesting. After having a horse with navicular and a multitude of other problems foot related, undoubtedly worsened by poor shoeing, I have done lots and lots of research on it. My mare is a little bit of a quandry, vet didnt see anything, she shows nothing of what your little chap demonstrates in behaviour and because I have also had a lami pony I am very conscious of any little sign hence why I am perplexed why she does only this and definetely much much less without shoes on. I spent a lot of time watching her recently and it is defintely getting much better. Oh well I guess I will never know, maybe its back pain, maybe heel pain that just niggled her just like us folks but its nice to think that by taking her shoes off I have eased that niggle for her!!

Of course yo uare absolutely right she could be suffering LGL.... so shall watch her even more carefully now!
 
95% of lameness is in the foot - or thats what I was always taught.

in the last 10 years we've had a vet out for an acutely lame horse 3 times (most, not sure really). each time it's been gravel.

the only chronic lameness we've ever had is my sister's horse with side bone and spavin.
 
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